Robinson Strong Over Eight to Help Big Green End Eight-Game Slide

Monday, March 23

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

9:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-14

Cal Poly

7-14

Dartmouth

Cal Poly

Robinson Strong Over Eight to Help Big Green End Eight-Game Slide

3/23/2015 11:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Dartmouth finished its nine-game trip to the state of California on a high note as the Big Green rode the pitching of right-hander Duncan Robinson and a five-run sixth to a 7-1 victory over host Cal Poly (7-14) on Monday evening. Robinson allowed just one run over eight strong innings to help Dartmouth (2-14) salvage the final game on the West Coast and snap an eight-game skid.

Robinson (1-1) allowed seven hits — three of which did not leave the infield — and a solitary free pass while fanning four to earn his first victory of the season. Of his 105 pitches, 71 were for strikes in the longest start of his career. Sophomore Mike Concato pitched a perfect ninth with a pair of called third strikes to close out the win.

Robinson retired the first 11 Mustangs he faced before issuing an inconsequential two-out walk in the fourth. He did run into trouble in the fifth, however, when Jordan Ellis led off with a bunt single for Cal Poly's first hit. Ryan Drobny followed by poking a hit-and-run single to left, and after a sacrifice bunt, the Mustangs opted for a safety squeeze. The bunt by Alec Smith ended up not far from the plate, so Ellis held his ground at third. But the first baseman had come charging in, leaving catcher Adam Gauthier nowhere to throw the ball and allowing Smith to reach first with a single to load the bases with one out.

Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen strode purposefully to the mound for a conference, and his animated demeanor suggested he was not thrilled with his team's play in the field. Robinson promptly picked up his defense by getting a foul pop to Gauthier behind the plate and a grounder to short to keep Cal Poly off the board.

The pep talk carried over into the top of the sixth as the Big Green put together a scoring threat of their own. Unlike the Mustangs, Dartmouth was able to take advantage of its opportunity. Sophomore Ben Socher singled with one out but was forced at second on a Joe Purritano grounder to third. Following two wild pitches and walks for Nick Lombardi and Michael Ketchmark, the bases were loaded for junior Nick Ruppert, who struck the first pitch back through the middle for a two-run single. One pitch later, freshman Kyle Holbrook ripped a two-run triple to right-center, and Gauthier, who was behind in the count at 0-2, was able to loop a single into center to plate Holbrook for a 5-0 lead and the Green's biggest scoring inning of the year.

The Mustangs touched Robinson for their lone tally when Peter Van Gansen led off their half of the sixth with a triple over the right fielder's head and trotted home on an RBI grounder to short by Brian Mundell.

But the Big Green weren't satisfied as Socher, Purritano and Lombardi hit consecutive one-out doubles in the seventh to boost the lead to 7-1.

In the bottom half, Cal Poly loaded the bases with one out once again thanks to singles by Drobny, Brett Barbier and pinch hitter Josh George. But Robinson induced a comebacker and started a home-to-first double play to squelch the threat and maintain the six-run advantage. After finishing with a 1-2-3 eighth, Concato came on to shut the door.

Socher and Lombardi led the 10-hit attack as each collected a single and a double while Ketchmark reached four times with a two-bagger of his own and three bases on balls. Both Ruppert and Holbrook went 1-for-4 with a run and two RBIs as well.

Andrew Bernstein (3-2) took the loss as he gave up all five runs in the sixth after five scoreless stanzas. The right-hander allowed five hits and walked four in his six innings on the mound, plus struck out four.

Dartmouth returns to the Northeast with one more tune up before Ivy League play starts this weekend when it travels to Siena (3-11) on Thursday for a game scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Cal Poly will play at three-game series at nationally ranked Oregon State this weekend, beginning on Friday at 5:05 PDT.

Notes: The Big Green avoided matching their worst 16-game start in program history with the win. Both the 1978 and 1992 squads opened up with a 1-15 record … Purritano has an Ivy-leading 10 doubles in just 16 games and ranks third nationally in two-baggers per game (0.63).